SA password lost!

[xyz1213]

hi,

i have an sql instance w/ windows authentication login. this was installed a while ago and the consultant has since disappeard. everything automatically started when the user logged in so i'm assuming the SA password was blank. But after installing some patches, it now asks for an SA password, i tried all the users' passwords but to no avail. anyway of knowing what it is? i checked some install logs but had no luck. thanks.

 

[JamesLean]

You can't get the sa password back. However, if you have a Windows account with sysadmin access to the server (by default any member of the server's local administrators group should have this access) then you should be able to connect to it and change the sa password to whatever you want.

--James

 

[JayKusch]

If all else fails ... if there's no one who is part of the sysadmin group and the sa password has been lost, you'll have to rebuild master. Once this is done, you can re-attach your databases and then use sp_change_users_login to resynch the logins and user IDs."

Thanks

J. Kusch

 

[SQLBill]

Just to ask:

You say:

it now asks for an SA password, i tried all the users' passwords

. Have you tried a blank password?

-SQLBill